There has been a lot of nastiness going around the web this past week, and sadly I’m not just talking about the real issues affecting the world at the moment. You see, there are some elements of the gaming community who prefer to spend their time attacking journalists and developers rather than paying attention to issues such as the Islamic State’s horrendous actions in Iraq and Syria or the militarization of the police in Ferguson over in the US.

Those people who think it is fair to attack developers and journalists on any level need to wake up and take stock of what really matters.

I think that is about enough of that unpleasant business, so on with Our Week in Games.

Patrick

This week I’ve more or less spent most of my gaming time burning down both my home town and the town in which I live as a Viking king in Crusader Kings II. I may have also murdered most of my children in order to make succession smoother. It’s also possible that I sacrificed a load of bishops at a massive party. CKII has a strange habit of making things which verge on the dangerously psychotic seem like perfectly logical and inviting suggestions. The vassals are getting restless? Go and burn down Paris! Why yes, I will take a concubine to try and sort out my worrying derth of sons and daughters. Nor is the madness confined to the Norse dynasties of Scandanavia and Russia – I have strangely fond memories of taking the throne of Moorish Spain and almost immediately imprisoning my eleven brothers. Why? To make me seem less decadent, and just to, you know, make sure. Never mind the time I smothered my bastard son as the king of Bohemia, so that he would never grow up to tear my carefully constructed dynasty apart. It’s a strange game, and one that has the capacity to generate stories at a rate which few games have.

It might look cold and complicated from the outside, but CKII has a warm core of pure drama.

Jon
I’m at the in-laws. So have mostly been playing on the iPad, and trying to stave off dark dark thoughts….

It’s been a more ‘Arcady-focused’ week for me. I’ve been going through a lot of the iOS’ time fillers and found, well to be frank, that I’ve spent more time downloading them than actually playing them. Most really aren’t that good.

So with a pull as inevitable as the force of gravity, I’ve gone back to Hearthstone and FTL. There really aren’t any finer games to play on the iPad, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Next week I plan to sink some serious hours into gaming, including finishing one title I’ve had in hiatus for nearly two months, and then choosing a new one from my steam backlog to start.

That and I may have a title to review for you lucky lucky people…..

Chris

Most of my past week has seen me investing my time into The Last of Us: Remastered. While I can appreciate Steve’s disgruntlement with the game from last year, I have to say that I have loved the adventure. It isn’t without issue though, but I will get to that when I write about it in more detail.

I’ve succumbed to pressure from my friends to pick up Battlefield 4 on my PlayStation 4, I’ve barely played it on my PC as the performance is just woeful. A PC upgrade is definitely needed in a few months, but it is a joy to be able to play Battlefield without awful load times and evil frame-rate issues.

More importantly though I’ve taken part in another Assetto Corsa Hot Lap Challenge, this time in a classic Ferrari 312T at Mugello. The Ferrari is a bit of a beast to drive, but I managed a lap in the 2:11 region. I was advised by Craig to try racing with manual gears, something I might try for the next challenge once I’ve found a comfortable way to race with them. Anyway, here is my lap.